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Then the crowd, those going before him and those following, continued to cry out to the Son of David, saying, Save us, please! Blessed is the One Coming in the Name of the Lord! Save us, please, in the Highest Heavens! Yes, Come Lord Jesus! Save us now!  Today we begin a new year of looking forward to this Advent of our Lord, the day he will forever and finally come to save us!  BEHOLD, JESUS IS ALWAYS COMING TO FULFILL THE ADVENT OF HIS BLESSINGS 1. We generally are always eager to see the advents of our lives fully realized. There are many advents in our lives. The word advent literally means “coming” or “arrival.” Advent is generally a positive term. That’s because advents normally are filled with hope, peace, love, and joy. So, like expectant mothers, we look forward to their arrival.  To the world, perhaps no advent is bigger than the secular new year ... the day we put away the old and hope for something better in the new. Every year, the media makes a big spectac...

Whenever Christian people do something Christian, they are doing and telling the truth.  Contrary to everything and everybody else around them, they are ... in truth ... celebrating the fact that they are Christian and that being a Christian makes a difference. Being a Christian makes a difference not only in the life to come but also in this life and in this world. Zachary and Constance ... GOD PROCLAIMS THIS TRUTH THROUGH CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE  So, today you are doing and telling the truth before all these people ... your family ... your friends ... and, above all ... before the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I. What you two are doing and saying today is demonstrating to all of us ... not that you just love each other ... but that God loved you first and reconciled you by the blood of Jesus Christ.  And you are saying that he has already made a difference in both of your lives ... separately and that he will make a difference in your life together.  You ...

What are you thankful for? Anything at all? Maybe more things than you can count?  Did you immediately think of your body and soul; eyes, ears, and all your members; your reason and all your senses? Or clothing, shoes, food, drink, house, home, wife, children, land, and animals? Did you remember it is our duty to thank and praise God our Father, to serve and obey him, love and cherish him? Have you ever done a lot for someone who never showed any appreciation, never even saying thanks one time? Were you disappointed?  Luke records an experience just like that. In our Gospel reading tonight from chapter 17, we hear about Jesus healing ten lepers with just a word. But only one returned to give Jesus thanks and praise. And he was a Samaritan (v 16). Jesus asked him, Where are the other nine (v. 17)? Is this foreigner the only one finding time to return and to give glory to God (V 18)?  How often are we like the nine, forgetting to say thanks for the wonderful gifts we’ve ...

Dear David and Lori, along with friends and family gathered here for this special day that marks not just the 19th anniversary of your marriage but the divine blessing of it ...  Hear again the word of our Lord Jesus Christ from Matthew chapter 18:[18-20]: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you may have bound upon the earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you may have loosened upon earth will have been loosened in heaven. Again, Amen, I say to you, if two of you are in unison on earth concerning all matters for which may ask from my Father in heaven, it will be (done for) them. For wherever two or three are being gathered into my name, there am I in their midst.” This is why we are here today for a civil marriage blessing: You long for the Lord to always be with you in your home, to bless you and keep you. And indeed he is and has because ...  CHRIST HAS UNITED HIMSELF WITH BOTH OF YOU I. Christ’s desire to unite himself with you and to bless your marriage is a desir...

As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way: What is the first commandment? You shall have no other Gods. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things (SC I 1). It never ceases to amaze me how many people in the world say they have faith, say they are a Christian, say they believe in God, say that their worship of God is the most important thing they do. It never ceases to amaze me when they, in turn, say their Christian life is all about their faith, their dedication, their worship, their prayers, their praise, their tradition, their God. Then I remember the first commandment. There is only one True God. Too many Christians in our world think that a person needs to know a lot about Jesus in order to come to him and relate to him. They think that because they attend a church with the name Christian in it, or a church affiliated with Christianity, they are therefore God-fearing Christians. There are others who feel that God has something to ...

See what type of love the Father has given to us: (It has the purpose) that we will be called children of God. And we are. On account of this (kind of love) , the world does not know us because it does not know him. Beloved, we are now God’s children, and it has not yet been revealed what we will be. We know that when he appears, we will be like him. And all the ones having this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure (1 Jn 3:1-3). Every Sunday when we don’t celebrate the Lord’s Supper, your pastor repeats an incredible promise. He says, To those who believe on His name, He gives the power to become children of God and has promised them His Holy Spirit. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved .   Most of us have heard this promise from page 185 in the Lutheran Service Book for most of our lives. Our service book pulls these two quotes from John 1 and Mark 16. I know there have been weeks and maybe even years when you didn’t hear this declaration of grace. I wouldn’...